Effect of Nano-Particles On Durability of Concrete Pavements

The freezing and thawing is one of the major problems of the concrete pavements in cold climates; so it is very important for concrete pavements to be durable enough, because theyare in direct relation to the weather conditions.In this study the frost resistance of concrete containing nano-silica incorporating PP fibers is experimentally studied. Nano-silica is employed to be as substitute of a portion of cement. For comparison the frost resistance andmechanical properties of plain concrete, concrete containing nano-silica (without PP fibers) and concrete containing polypropylene fibers (without nano-particles) are also experimentally studied separately in this work. The specimens were subjected to cycles of freezing andthawing in water according to the procedure of ASTM C666A. Experimental results show that using nano-silica incorporating polypropylene fibers enhances frost resistance and mechanical properties of concrete pavement; however the indices of frost resistance of concrete containing nano-silica are much larger than that of concrete containing PP fibers

Keywords:

Durability , Concrete pavements , Freeze and Thaw , Nano-silica , Polypropylene fibers